


Somethin' 'Bout a Truck

by BunnyFair



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Human/Transformer Relationships (Transformers), Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyFair/pseuds/BunnyFair
Summary: Seraphina already knew about Bumblebee and Optimus. Her friend, Alice, however, did not. Alice also enjoyed napping in a certain 'run down' semi in the afternoons. With Optimus awakened, her nap spot may or may not continue being just that.
Relationships: BumbleBee/Original Female Character, Optimus Prime/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Seraphina straightened up quickly when she heard an angry yell and yelped when she hit Bumblebee's hood. She rubbed her head and looked over at Optimus, quickly waving her hands at him. "I need you to hide! Bee, keep quiet! Alice doesn't know about you guys and she would abolutely freak out."

Optimus nodded and stepped back before transforming. "Let's hope your friend leaves soon."

Seraphina softly sighed and wiped off her hands on a rag, muttering, "Oh you're in for a surprise, big guy." Seraphina waved as the small, angry woman turned the corner. "Hey, Alice. Rough day at school?"

Alice took a deep breath and Seraphina quickly plugged her ears with her fingers before she let out a loud screech. Alice screeched for a long moment and stomped towards Optimus, yanking a door open. She threw her bag in the front seat and slammed the door shut behind herself, climbing into the back.

Seraphina softly groaned and rubbed her temples. "Optimus, flash your lights if you can hear me. Just the front ones."

He flashed his lights in response.

She nodded. "Okay, good. That would be Alice, my very close friend and practically my sister. She doesn't come out here often, but when she does, she used to sleep in, well, you after dealing with a long day of school. She likes to nap inside you for a couple hours and sometimes do her homework in the front seat while I work on cars. I know you want to contact your allies and need to make repairs, but right now, I would greatly appreciate it if you just sat there for her to nap. Please?"

Optimus let out a low grumble, but stayed quiet otherwise.

She let out a slow breath and turned to Bee. "Alright, let's get tht radio swapped out. Something a bit more modern, yeah?"

Bee softly beeped his horn and she smiled, grabbing the radio off her bench and sliding in the front seat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Optimus sat quietly, in a half-resting mode as the girl, Alice, napped in the back seat. It was a larger area and more suitable for human resting, after all. She seemed quite content, despite her earlier scream of agony.

She was smaller than Seraphina and her hands clutched at the fabric of the seat, much softer than he was used to. Her bag was in the front seat, some of the contents spilling out. A quick scan informed him of some notebooks, a significant amount of loose paper, pens, two books of large size differences, and a small laptop.

Another scan of her revealed her phone and some bunched up currency in her pants pockets. Barefeet pressed against the inside of the door, almost shockingly cold. They may be robots by human standards, but they did provide their own heat source.

She seemed quite different than the mechanic, Seraphina. Seraphina did keep a small notebook on her body, but it seemed much less cluttered. Her workbench was organized despite the supposed clutter, as she had no problem finding what she needed.

He fully woke up when Alice began to shift, curling and uncurling her fingers in the seat. Her nails poked softly, bringing a new sensation with them. She slowly sat up and mumbled softly, rubbing her closed eyes.

He listened as she smacked her lips and turned the rearview mirror to see her look around slowly. She blinked slowly a few times and gripped the front seat before pulling herself forward, tumbling into the seat. She wiggled around for several minutes before sitting up, pushing her books back into her bag.

She grumbled softly as she stared at the big book and patted her back pocket for her phone, tugging it out and leaning forward to rest her forehead on the dashboard. She yawned widely, closing her eyes for a moment. He easily hacked into her phone, seeing what was displayed on the screen.

She scrolled through a few websites, social medias, before sliding her phone back into her back pocket. "Okay you dumbass book, come here."

She forcefully tugged out the smaller book and gently set the backpack on the floor, leaning against the door to open her book to a folded page. She yawned widely and started reading, her eyes flitting across the pages. He resisted the urge to sigh and stayed silent as she read through many pages.

She rubbed her eye as the sunlight began to dim and grabbed her bag, pushing the door open. "Sissy! Are you at a stopping point?"

Seraphina closed the hood and gave a thumbs up, grabbing the old t-shirt to wipe off her hands. "Yeah, I'm done here. Feel better now, princess?"

Alice groaned loudly, gripping the door as she carefully stepped down. "Yeah, I feel better now. God, they're such bitches." She pulled her bag out, a mocking tone evident in her voice, "Oh, look at me, with my fancy cars and my expensive jewelry and my fake tan. Look at me, sucking the professors dick to get straight A's and get into the best schools with daddy's money."

Seraphina softly groaned, grabbing her keys. "Caitlin's a rich bitch, now let's go home. I need a shower."

Alice shuffled over and rubbed her eyes, walking around Bee to open the passsenger door. "This thing still looks like a deathtrap."

Seraphina rolled her eyes and turned the key, the engine roaring to life. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Seraphina pressed her foot to the pedal, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Bee allowed her control, Optimus watching as they drove off. Perhaps they could use new disguises, cleaner and newer models did blend in more after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Seraphina stretched out as she walked out the bathroom, tying her hair up into a ponytail. She softly groaned and bllinked down at the curled up form on the couch. Smiling softly, she adjusted the blanket over Alice and turned off the tv.

She grabbed a poptart out the pantry and tugged on her boots, walking outside. "Alright, Bee, let's go."

Bumblebee rumbled to life and beeped softly, opening the driver door.

She gently patted the roof and slid in, settling back to open her poptart. "Morning, Bee. Let's get back to the junkyard and I can take a look at your voice box again."

He revved the engine and quickly took off, slowing down when she gripped the steering wheel with one hand.

She smiled slightly and focused on eating, glancing out the window. It was a bit early and not many people lived near their neighborhood, so she could get away with Bee driving for now. She relaxed back, watching the usual scenery fly by as he cruised to the junkyard.

Optimus was sitting up when they arrived, his paint looking better than before. He opened his eyes and looked over at them, rising to his feet. Bee stopped and Seraphina stepped out, dusting off as Bee transformed, standing to his full height.

Seraphina tilted her head as she looked over Optimus. "What happened to make you all clean?"

Optimus turned on his hologenerator, showing off the image of a blue and red semi truck. "I went out and scanned some vehicles for newer models. Bumblebee, I believe you will like this one."

Bumblebee perked up as he switched the hologram to a yellow Camaro and scanned over it. Seraphina circled the hologram and looked over when Bee transformed into the shiny yellow car. She blinked slowly at him, her mouth dropping open.

Bee revved the engine and transformed back, tilting his head at her.

She pointed at him and softly squeaked, "You can do that?! This entire time, you could've been a Camaro?! Wait. That's Caitlin's car, just Bee colored. This is amazing."

Bee flexed his arms and used the radio to say, "Pretty fly for a yellow guy."

She softly snorted and looked up as Optimus turned off the hologram. "Hey, how do you do that? And, what else can you project out?"

Optimus crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Anything we scan, along with our avatars. However, our avatar projectors have been damaged since our arrival here and are merely digital holograms."

She nodded slowly and walked over to the garage, pulling the stool over to her desk and turning on her computer. "May I connect my computer to one of y'all? Maybe I can help with the avatar issue. Sounds easier than fixing Bee's voice right now."

Bumblebee sat down and softly whined, opening his chest plate. "I need a... doctor."

Optimus nodded, his eyes narrowing as he watched her carefully connect to Bumblebee. "I have made contact with Ratchet and Ironhide, they are safely hiding. I sent them our coordinates."

Seraphina glanced up at him and blinked at the rapid ines of coding across her screen. "Shit, this is gonna take some time to get through. Looks like I've got a long day ahead of me..."

Bee tilted his head at her and leaned over, peeking at the screen as her fingers began flying across the keyboard.

Optimus crossed his arms. "Should we expect your friend today?"

Seraphina nodded slightly, letting go of her lower lip between her teeth. "She's got a test today and some work to turn in, but then she'll be free to come out here. I'll just tell her I got you two cleaned up in the morning. Hopefully, she won't notice too much of a difference." 

Optimus nodded. "She seemed quite agitated yesterday."

Seraphina nodded, leaning closer to the screen to read it. "Yeah, she's getting close to graduating and it's rough on her. The books are hard to understand and the teacher's boring to listen to. Very monotone and all that."

He tilted his head slightly. "Is there anyway to help?"

Seraphina shrugged slightly and pushed Bumblebee's face away before starting typing. "Not unless she asks for it."

Optimus nodded, straightening up as she started working.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this here is what we call 'exposition' and 'cherry picking' canon

Optimus watched as Seraphina looked over Bumblebee, the young bot laying on the ground and letting her climb over him. He raised his hands whenever she climbed up onto his chest, opening his chest plates for her to examine his inner workings.

Seraphina muttered softly as she looked over his spark chamber, gently tracing her fingers over it. Bumblebee's vent kicked on loudly and he gently poked her side, waving her away. Seraphina hopped down and dusted off her hands, Bumblebee sitting up and closing his chest.

Seraphina wiped her hands off and grabbed her notepad, jotting down several notes. "Hey, what's that center piece? It seems sensitive."

Optimus turned to her. "It is the spark chamber, our sparks are what keep us alive. It contains our energy signature, genetic coding. They are our equivalent of a heart. Along with energon, our equivalent of blood. However, our bodies do not naturally produce it like humans' bodies. We gather it from ore and refine it."

Seraphina scrunched up her nose as she quickly wrote. "So, spark is a heart, and energon is blood. But you don't naturally make energon."

Optimus nodded, turning at another set of footsteps entering the junkyard. "Your friend is returning. Bumblebee, hide."

Bumblebee nodded quickly and Seraphina stared as he quickly stood up, walking to hide behind a large pile. Optimus transformed, settling in his usual spot. Seraphina frowned and followed Bumblebee.

"Bee, get back here and transform you doofus."

Alice stared as Seraphina stormed off behind the pile and softly sighed, walking over to Optimus. She blinked at him and slowly circled him, tilting her head. He stayed still, watching as she narrowed her eyes.

She shifted and yelled, "Hey, sissy! Did you get the semi a new paint job?! It looks very pretty!"

Seraphina's voice echoed back, "Yes! Go take your nap!"

Alice reached up to open the door and climbed in. "It looks nice inside too!"

She slid in the passenger seat and shut the door, leaning back in the seat. She rubbed her eyes and softly groaned, reaching down to pull the lever to lay back. She sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

Optimus waited for her to fall asleep, except she started speaking instead, "God, school is the worst. I'm almost done, but this book and paper are kicking my ass. Like, this book is so boring! And I'm supposed to write a paper on this? This is cruelty, I tell ya, absolute cruelty. I can't make myself care about this book enough to write about it, but if I don't then I won't complete the class and then I'll fail and be a failure and not do anything with my life."

He felt her feet stomp the floor quickly and she covered her face in her hands, sitting up to screech into her hands. Humans could be cruel but books did not classify as torture in any sense. She must be exaggerating greatly, he concluded.

Bumblebee slowly drove around in alt form, Seraphina in the drivers seat. She stepped out and walked over to Optimus, hopping up the step to peek inside. She tilted her head and motioned to the window, Optimus rolling it down for her.

Alice peeked up through her fingers and softly sighed. "This book is so hard to read, I don't think I can do it."

Seraphina smiled slightly and reached in to pat her head. "Take your nap, there's a few things I wanna do under the hood to big guy here."

Alice slumped and nodded, putting the seat back into place. "I'll be in the back, don't rock the truck too much."

Seraphina shook her head and hopped down, patting Optimus' side as she walked to his front. He opened the hood for her and she hopped onto his bumper, leaning into him. She looked over his engine and softly said, "Sorry, Optimus. Wait, is this your hologenerator? Lemme get a little closer..."

He felt her hands reach into his engine, her fingers carefully tracing over the damaged piece. He focused on inside his cab, feeling Alice curl up in the back seat. She took a deep breath and tucked her hands close to her chest, pressing her cool feet against his door again.

Seraphina looked over the piece of machinery and carefully unplugged it, pulling it out and hopping down. She looked over it and hummed softly, setting it at her workdesk. She carefully took it apart and scrunched up her nose, glancing up as Bumblebee rolled closer to her.

She patted his hood and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, you're next. Lemme figure this out first."

His engine practically purred and she chuckled softly, carefully reassmbling the part. He settled down and started flipping through the radio, settling on a few songs before changing them midway through. She chuckled softly and shook her head slightly.

"Alice does the same unless it's a song she likes. Midway through and gotta change it. Better look out Optimus, she seems to like you."

Optimus stayed silent and Bumblebee continued looking through the stations. Seraphina noticed that he didn't care for the talk shows or the country stations and lingered on the more modern pop and hip hop. She moved a few pieces around, carefully connecting some wiring. She nodded firmly and flicked it on.

She binked at the image of a generic trucker and grinned widely, bouncing on her heels. She quickly walked over to Optimus and stepped up on his bumper, leaning in to put the part back. She kept his hood open and hopped back down, grabbing her laptop out of her bag.

"Let's make you a bit more modern, yeah? Just gonna, connect this... here... and I'm gonna need you to translate this to English for me."

She grinned widely as the Cybertronian lettering turned to English and glanced over the screen quickly, tapping in a few commands. She leaned forward and lightly bounced on her feet.

Optimus steadied himself as she bounced and allowed her to access the hologenerator commands. She hummed softly and glanced up as she thought for a moment, changing several things. "Hey, can you project your human hologram for me?"

He projected it outward and solidified it, leaning against the front of his alt mode. "What are you doing?"

She hummed softly, looking over at him as she changed his appearance. "Just making you look a bit less, distinct, shall we say. And making you look a bit more handsome."

He raised an eyebrow, noticing his avatar gain several inches of height. "Being handsome is not relevant nor necessary to the mission."

She shrugged and changed a few more things beforer reaching in to unplug her computer. "What is your mission anyway? It seems to me like you've been resting for quite a while considering the dust you gathered."

He followed her as she walked over to Bumblebee, carefully pulling his hologenerator out. "Our mission is to protect Earth from any decepticons. And, hopefully, make this planet our new home. There are several energon deposits around the planet for us to mine."

She hummed softly, easily deconstructing Bumblebee's hologenerator. "Well, that seems like a pretty long-term goal to me. Do you even have permission from the government to make this place your home? The American government isn't exactly known for being welcoming."

He cleared his throat and nodded. "I have read this country's history of immigration. We hope to form bonds with your government and are willing to share our knowledge in exchange for a home. It will be a mutual relationship of sorts, if all goes well that is."

She nodded and carefully reassembled it, fixing the broken parts and reconnecting the wiring. "That sounds like a good plan to me. Don't forget about us when you go off to join the military."

He shook his head. "Our memories are impeccable under most circumstances. You seem to be a wise mechanic and even once we find Ratchet, we lack the technology to reach into small places. Your hands, however, fit quite well in the smaller and tighter crevices."

She smiled slightly, walking over to set the piece back in its place in Bumblebee's engine. She connected her computer once again, leaning back against him. "Thanks. Wish the mechanics around here would appreciate me like that. God forbid an engineer of any sort be a woman."

He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as Bumblebee projected his avatar. "That is an extremely primitve way of thinking. Femme's are necessary for human reproduction as I understand it, you should be highly honored amongst your people."

She snorted, glancing up at Bumblebee's avatar as he looked over her workbench. "Yeah, trust me I wouldn't be in a junkyard if I was honored. I take it, femmes, that's what you call your females? I take it they're treated the same as everyone else."

He nodded. "They tend to be smaller in size and sleeker, but just as deadly as any bot. Bumblebee trained under Arcee as a scout. With his smaller size, certain fighting styles work better with him."

She hummed softly. "She sounds pretty cool just from that. I take it reproduction is different too then?"

He nodded again, glancing away as Bumblebee dropped a wrench, burying his face in his hands. "Yes. Interfacing, sexual intercourse, is not necessary for a new bot. It is merely for pleasure and physical bonding. New bots are made from a combination of our planets' natural metal and the Well of All Sparks. We are created fully developed, much unlike humans."

She closed her laptop and tapped her nails along the top, humming softly. "That's neat. I know Alice hates the idea of kids. I like the idea, but adoption's always an option too. So, how exactly did your planet create this metal and spark well?"

He tilted his head slightly, holding his hands behind his back. "A healthy planet naturally forms this. Cyberton created them at a steady pace at its' healthiest. Your scientists call this metal Transformium and allows us to regenerate along with change forms. Sparks were created in the center of the planet and brought up to form with a new bot to give it life, a personality, and alt form."

She nodded, grabbing her notepad to quickly write. She muttered under her breath as she wrote and Bumblebee turned off his avatar, idling his engine as she leaned against the front. She scrunched up her nose some and softly squeak when Bumblebee rolled backwards quickly, stumbling quickly.

"Bee!"

Optimus sighed softly and turned off his avatar, focusing on Alice. She had shifted to lay on her back, both feet propped up on the handle of the car. One hand was loosely tangled in her hair and the other on her chest, rising and falling in a slow, steady pace.

At least someone was calm, he thought as Seraphina yelled at Bumblebee.


	4. Chapter 4

A few weeks passed and Optimus sat on the ground, his eyes closed as he focused on searching the internet. Bumblebee was in rest mode, parked in a shady spot. Seraphina had yet to visit the junkyard, but she informed him yesterday she would be busy.

He sat quietly, searching for any allies. He pinged a few locations, attempting to make contact with anyone. However, without proper connections to the satellites he couldn't make any firm contact.

He sighed softly, blinking when a bag hit the ground. He looked over, focusing on the shorter woman. Alice stared up at him, her eyes wide.

He shifted slightly and quickly moved forward when she screamed, pivoting on her heel to dart off. He swiftly grabbed her and lifted her up, carefully putting a finger over her mouth. She continued to scream and pushed against his hand, her chest heaving as he held her up.

He carefully tightened his grip and said, "Please calm down, Alice. I can explain."

She gasped softly, swallowing some air. She quickly stated, "You'd better explain fast before I call someone."

He nodded, loosening his grip but keeping her in his hand. "My name is Optimus Prime, I am from Cybertron. I have been resting here for a few years before your friend, Seraphina, repaired me. I rested in my alt mode while you rested inside of me. She can explain more to you in simple terms if need be."

She nodded slightly, taking a deep breath. "You're a... robot."

He nodded. "In simple terms, yes."

She nodded again, narrowing her eyes as she looked at his chest. "You're the old semi that I sleep in."

He nodded. "Yes. You are the human Alice that sleeps inside of me."

She combed her fingers through her hair, slumping back into his hand. "Yeah, I am. I'm the human Alice."

He shifted slightly and slowly lowered her to the ground. "I suggest getting in contact with Seraphina and asking her to explain. She can come here and speak with you."

She nodded and slowly stood up, tugging her phone out. "Yeah, I'm just gonna call her."

He nodded and stood up, focusing his hearing on her as she walked away, her phone in hand. He tilted his head slightly, hearing Seraphina's familiar voice on the other end.

"What's up, Alice? Didn't expect you to finish your exams so early."

Alice shifted and crossed her arm around her chest. "Yeah, I finished early. Got some lunch and, uh, I came by the junkyard. To nap like usual. And, uh, hey, when did you find a giant robot?"

Optimus heard a clatter and Seraphina quickly said, "I'll be there in a couple minutes, just stay calm. You can ask Optimus to transform and rest in him if you need to lay down."

Alice glanced over at him and nodded slightly. "Yeah. I'll, uh, I'll be here." She hung up and nudged her phone in her pocket. She shifted and slowly walked over to Optimus. "May I... lay down inside you?"

He nodded and stepped back, transforming into his alt mode. He opened the door and spoke through the radio, "I can provide you cool air as well."

She slowly climbed in and slowly laid across the seats, taking a deep breath. "You turn into a truck."

He turned on the cool air, letting it blow over her softly. "Yes. Humans refer to us as transformers."

She nodded slightly. "That makes sense. You're from... Cybertron? That's not around here."

"It's in your galaxy, in the Alpha Centauri star system. It is four-point-thirty-seven light years from the Sun." 

She took a deep breath, covering her face with her hands. "That's a lot of miles. Wow, holy shit. So, does that make you... Cybertronians?"

He hummed softly. "Precisely."

She nodded slowly, rubbing her eyes. "I'm just gonna lay here until Sera gets here."

He stayed quiet, watching as she settled down. She stared up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes eventually, taking several more deep breaths.

She slowly calmed down, her heart rate slowly decreasing to a healthy rate. He watched as she continued to calm down, her eyelids drooping. He relaxed internally. Seraphina would hopefully arrive soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Seraphina tilted her head as she looked inside Bumblebee, her feet hooked in some pieces as she leaned in. He laid still for her, his fingers tapping on the dirt. She tugged out a sharp piece of metal and looked up at his whine.

"Sorry about that. Looks like it was trying to heal around it, but it should be able to properly heal now."

Bumblebee carefully sat up as she climbed off him and beeped happily, patting her head.

She smiled and gently batted his hand away. "Stop that."

He nodded and tilted his head as she sat down at her bench, holding the shard between her fingertips. She hummed softly, picking up a small tool to gently poke at it. She jolted at a surge of energy and fanned her hand quickly.

"Fuck! Jesus christ that hurt!" She held her hand close and softly groaned as Bumblebee gently rubbed her back. "What the hell was that?"

He shrugged and tilted his head, pulling back to swiftly transform. She gave him a look and tugged out her first aid kit as Alice walked around, a paper in hand and a wide grin on her face.

Alice bounced on her heels and grinned, holding up the paper. "I passed! I can officially go on to do better things! World, here I come!"

Seraphina gave a thumbs up and wrapped up her finger. "That's great, Alice. Fuck, it still stings."

Alice tilted her head and peeked over. "What did you do?"

Seraphina pointed at the shard on the bench. "That thing zapped me."

Alice winced and patted her back. "Maybe you should take a break."

Seraphina nodded and they looked up at the faint sound of helicopters. They blinked at each other as they flew overhead and stared as they began hovering overhead. Alice hugged her paper closer and shifted, jolting when several black vehicles sped into the area.

Seraphina straightened up and stepped in front of Alice as several men in military uniforms quickly stepped out. "Hey! This is private property!"

Alice shifted and yelped when one grabbed her arm, slapping his hand. "Let me go! What the fuck?!"

Seraphina pushed him away and snapped, "Back off buddy."

He narrowed his eyes and another called, "Step down, soldier! We're not here to harm civilians!"

The soldier stepped back as the commander stepped forward. "Ma'am, please come with us quietly. I don't know what you've got going on here, but these two... vehicles are highly dangerous."

Seraphina crossed her arms, tilting her head back as she stared up at him. "I bought these cars when I bought this junkyard, they're legally my property."

He softly sighed. "Ma'am, please, this is a matter of national security."

She raised an eyebrow. "They're my property, check the paperwork. Just like you're on my private property. Now, get off before I get you arrested and you have that much more paperwork to do."

He stepped back, waving his hand. "Alright, men. Be easy, but get them in that truck."

Four men stepped forward and Seraphina twitched when one grabbed her, swiftly punching his face and hearing a satisfying crack. She smirked and grunted when she was swiftly pinned, her hands yanked behind her back.

Alice yelped when she was grabbed and lifted, kicking her feet wildly. She looked around quickly and stared at Optimus' alt mode. "Help!"

Optimus shifted and his engine roared to life before he transformed, Bumblebee swiftly following his lead. "I suggest you let our friends go, commander."

The commander lightly clapped. "Optimus, right? These nice girls are under our jurisdiction now."

Optimus looked over when Alice screeched again and saw her being pushed into a truck. He curled his fingers as the door was slammed shut. He couldn't do anything with all the humans around and Alice and Seraphina both in the vehicle. He knew that and they knew that.

He took a deep breath, looking over at Bumblebee as he aimed his canons at the commander. "Stand down. We will follow you to your base and you will release them."

The commander lightly smirked. "Thank you for being so cooperative, Mr. Prime. I trust you and your ally will behave."

Optimus wanted to roll his eyes as the commander turned to walk to his vehicle. Bumblebee looked over at him and shifted slightly, retracting his canons. Optimus nodded and transformed, waiting for the military to pull out before following them.


	6. Chapter 6

Alice squirmed as she sat in the interrogation room, glancing up at the camera in the corner. She twisted her fingers and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She tapped her feet and shook her head quickly, raising a hand to nibble on her nail.

She glanced around the room and shifted in her chair, staring at the mirror. Staring at the mirror, she tilted her head slightly and raised a hand to wave. She knew she was being watched.

She swallowed and reached for the glass with both hands, slowly drinking a moutful. She held some water in her mouth and closed her eyes, breathing slowly through her nose. She gripped the glass in her hands, contuing to breathe slowly.

She swallowed when the knob turned and set the glass on the table, sitting up straighter. Three men walked in, two heavily armed and the third with a file in his hand. She shifted and glanced between the two that moved into the corners, looking down at the table.

The third sat down and set the file on the table. "Alice Hare. Twenty-three years old, single, autistic, no occupation, recently got your college diploma, and a single friend. Family, deceased. Sound right?"

She glanced up and nodded slightly. "Yes, sir."

He nodded and glanced through her file. "So. What do you think brought you to this interrogation room?"

She glanced down, twisting her fingers. "I don't know."

He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he leaned back. "So, you don't know Optimus Prime? I distinctly remember hearing you call out for him when my men grabbed you."

She shifted and curled her fingers together. "I only know him a little bit. I wanted to call someone when I found out but Sera said not to and that they were friendly."

He tapped his fingers on his arm. "So, she convinced you to keep them secret?"

She frowned. "Well, yes. No. Don't manipulate me!"

He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "Are you accusing me of manipulation, Miss?"

She combed her fingers through her hair roughly, tugging on it some. "No! You just, you want me to say things to make them look bad! Optimus was kind enough to let me sleep inside him and he told me about how Cybertronians work and how his home was dying and then Megatron led a war against them and then they had to flee. They're homeless and have nowhere to go. They have feelings and individual thoughts and they want a home and they're practically human. They're just really big robots that can turn into cars. They're friendly and they say they've helped before and we should show them a bit of kindness."

He nodded slowly and grabbed her file, standing up. "Alright. You're officially under our jurisdiction, Ms. Hare. My men will escort you to your home to pack necessities and then you will be moving to the base."

She wiped her eyes and sniffled softly. "I'm not military."

He nodded. "We have an apartment complex on base for civilians and officers. You will be living there."

She nodded slightly. "Can I see Optimus?"

He nodded, opening the door. "Follow me."

She nodded and stood up, awkwardly moving past the guard to follow him out. She hugged herself and glanced around at the plain walls. The guards followed her, keeping an even pace. 

She looked around when he opened a door into a large hangar and straightened up when she saw Optimus standing, speaking with a few humans standing on a scaffold. She shifted and quickly slipped past the man, scurrying over to Optimus.

He looked down at her when she stopped near his feet and took a step back before kneeling down, lowering his face to her level with one hand on the floor beside her. "Are you unharmed?"

She nodded quickly, looking over him. "I'm okay. Are you?"

He nodded. "I have been working out a treaty with your leaders. We will stay here and be monitored while we search for allies."

She shifted and gently raised a hand to touch his cheek. "That sounds good. They have some apartments, living spaces, for me and Sera. Oh! Have you seen Sera? Is she okay? Where is she?"

He shook his head slightly. "I have not seen her yet. If she does not return soon, I will ask about her."

She nodded. "Thank you, Opt. I gotta go home and pack up."

He nodded, feeling her sweaty hand move away from his face. "Would you like me to join you?"

She smiled slightly. "I'll be okay."

He stood back up and she moved back, walking over to the guards. She rubbed her arm and shifted slightly. "I would like to go home and pack now."

One guard nodded and motioned to a truck. "Hop in."

She nodded and walked over before climbing in the passenger seat. Glancing out the window, she looked up at Optimus and smiled slightly. She rested her head back and rubbed her palms along her shorts. Hopefully Sera was having a better time.

~~~

Seraphina narrowed her eyes as she stared at the mirror, staring directly at the man on the other side. Her arms were crossed, one leg placed over the other. Her foot bounced slowly, the repetitive sound filling the room.

She tapped her fingers on her arm, continuing to stare at the mirror. The door opened and a man walked in, a file in hand. He sat down in the chair across from her and the two guards stood in the corners of the room.

She leaned back and raised an eyebrow, glancing down at his tag. "Hello, Colonel."

He nodded. "Seraphina Mylixe, twenty-five, single, college degree in mechanical engineering, one friend, and only distant family left alive. Aunt sends you money and you repair cars in secret for cheap."

She raised an eyebrow. "You forgot my coding and computer engineer degrees."

He laced his fingers together as he rested his arms on the table. "Apologies. Now, the way I hear it, you're quite friendly with these autobots."

She tilted her head, curtly stating, "Possibly."

He raised an eyebrow. "You said they are 'your property'. And you made the claim they 'came with your land'. Is that true?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He nodded. "So, they are, by definition, your property?"

She tilted her head slightly. "Yes. And you stole them. They're my property, you took them from my land and took me and my friend. That's trespassing, kidnapping, and stealing."

He softly sighed. "Your friend was much more cooperative. These autobots are legally government property. Taking you and your friend in for questioning is not against the law."

"You took us without a warrant or probable cause. We weren't doing anything harmful. I was merely working on my car."

He took a deep breath and leaned back. "Would you like to see your 'vehicle'? Would that make you more cooperative?"

She tilted her head, blinking at him. "I don't know, would you even willingly do that?"

He nodded. "Optimus is making a deal with us as we speak. Your freedom is part of that. As long as you comply."

She smiled sweetly, leaning forward. "Let me guess. That includes me living on the base and working for you. Alice would've already agreed by now and I imagine she's packing. Give me Bumblebee back and my own work area. I will share my information as I see fit."

He frowned, leaning forward. "You will share your information as you learn more. You will not withold anything from us and you might get a work area of your own."

She tapped her fingernails on the table slowly. "I will share what I deem necessary. Give me my own tools and area or you get nothing out of me."

He stared evenly at her and nodded once. "Deal."

She smiled sweetly. "Pleasure doing business with you, Colonel."


	7. Chapter 7

Alice rubbed her arm as she walked around the empty hangar. The hangar had been designated as the current temporary resting space for the bots, giving them enough space while also keeping them close. It was smart, she admitted. Any new Autobots could also move in and the base did have living spaces for some personell. Thankfully they'd given them a room together after helping them collect their things and end their rent.

Honestly, watching the Colonel argue with the old woman was the highlight of the past 24 hours. She was stubborn and had given them housing when they needed it and joined them for dinner on occasion. Not to mention their rent agreement was still meant to go on for several more years.

She looked around and walked over to Optimus, a few cables connected to his arms, giving him access to their communication devices if she heard correctly. "Hi."

He looked down at her and smiled slightly, carefully kneeling down. "Hello, Alice. I apologize I cannot come closer."

She shook her head slightly. "Is it okay if I sit on your shoulder? That way I can come to your level. Kinda."

He nodded, extending his arm to rest his hand on the floor. She smiled and carefully stepped on his arm, kneeling down and gripping his fingers. He slowly stood up straight and lifted his hand to his shoulder, keeping his hand near her as she stepped onto his shoulder. She carefully sat down and gripped the edge of a plate, slowly settling down in a semi-comfortable spot.

"Are you looking for your friends?"

He activated several hologram screens, looking over them. "Yes. There should be several others close to Earth. Your satellites are relatively short-ranged, but I can bounce the signal off them for more range of my own scanners."

She looked at the holograms; the Earth, the satellites around it, some lettering she didn't recognize. "That's cool. What's that lettering squiggly stuff?"

He chuckled softly, swiping the Earth away before pulling up a whole screen of the lettering. "This is Cybertron's written language. We use an alphabet similar to yours, except with a few extra letters."

She held out her hand, carefully tracing one with her finger. "Wow. It looks pretty. Can you write something? I wanna see it in action."

He nodded, smiling as he tapped a few letters quickly, the letters expanding and lining up in front of the alphabet. "This is your name in Cybertronian."

She smiled widely, tightening her grip on his shoulder plate as she leaned forward. "Oh, shit, it looks so cool. Can I take a picture of it?" He nodded, brightening her name as she wiggled to tug her phone out her pocket. She snapped a quick picture and looked at her screen, nodding firmly. "Okay, do your name now."

He chuckled and swiped away her name, typing his own name. "Here. These symbols like this make up the title 'Prime'."

She gripped her phone, carefully angling it to take a picture. "That's so cool. So do certain extra letters make other words? Like, Prime is made up from certain symbols but can some of those symbols be used to make other words?"

He nodded, swiping away a few letters before typing a few other letters, lining them up. "Of course. This is the word for Cybertron, our home planet. We are referred to as Cybertronians and Transformers by others. Primus is our god and original creator, his first creation was Prima who was also the bearer of the Matrix of Leadership. Unicron is Primus' enemy, Unicron thirsts for chaos and bloodshed; he longs to destroy anything Primus creates. The All Spark gives us life, crafting sentio metallico into a protoform and spark. Sentio metallico is living metal, known as Transformian to lesser beings."

She smiled widely, nodding along. "And sparks are your hearts right?"

He nodded, pulling up an image of a spark and moving it closer to her. "This is what most sparks looks like. On occasion, they split into two and form twins. Even rarer is triplets."

She nodded slowly, her eyes wide as she stared at the slowly spinning blue mass. "It's so pretty."

He smiled softly. "Yes, they are. Sparks also contain a special form of energon; innermost energon. It is sacred to everybot and kept safe, only given out to Conjunx Endurae and Amica Endurae."

She nodded, reaching out to touch the hologram. He chuckled softly when her hand simply slid through it and moved it away, closing the image. "What's a... con... jux?"

He closed the alphabet, focusing back on a soft ping from a satelite. "A Conjunx Endura is the human equivalent of a spouse. An Amica Endura is a close friend, someone we would trust with our lives."

She nodded, yawning widely. "That sounds really nice. Thanks, Optimus."

He nodded, reaching for her slowly. "Would you like to go rest?"

She nodded, reaching out to grab his fingers. "Yeah, I'm tired now. Thanks for sharing all that stuff with me."

He knelt down to set her down, smiling softly. "Thank you for being a good listener. Perhaps I'll teach you and Seraphina our writing. Our native tongue is a bit too complicated for human voice boxes, however."

She grinned cheekily up at him. "Nah, you doubt us too much. You should look up some videos of human mimicking animal sounds. Sometimes it gets really spooky, how good we are with that shit. I'll see ya tomorrow, whenever I get up. Anyway, goodnight, sweet dreams."

He nodded, standing up as she walked out. He focused on the ping, sending a ping back. Hopefully the human military allies were as willing to listen as her.


End file.
